


Relief And Mystery In A Time Of Hypothetical Danger

by EverestV



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, I love her and must protect her, also Vic isn't a vampire, and Max is a major dork nerd, and wow I'm sorry this is so crappy, but yeah Vic is bitchy on instinct, not in personality, overprotective and overprepared landladies will save us all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverestV/pseuds/EverestV
Summary: Prompt: 3am and the fire alarm in our apartment complex just went off let me lend you my jacket while we wait on the sidewalk





	

Heavy knocking, the sound reverberating and hollow, made Max wake up with a start.

“Miss Caulfield? Miss Caulfield!” The voice sounded like her landlady, and she sounded terrified. Max scrambled out of bed and slid down the hallway in her socks, throwing the front door open.

“Yes? What’s wrong, what’s happening?”

Her landlady took her wrist and tugged her out of the doorway before she could protest. “There’s a fire in one of the apartments upstairs. Everyone needs to get outside now. Follow the others.  _ Go _ !”

Max was not scared of her landlady, Ms. Falk had been nothing but considerate and genuine and understandably no-nonsense-oriented since they first met. But you’d better believe she hopped right to it at the sincerity of Ms. Falk’s gaze and raced to the staircase without a bit of hesitation.

The neighbors she met on the way, a few other panicky twenty-somethings like her, seemed similarly motivated as some cradled pets, others cradled laptops—  _ No, shit, fuck, my camera! My portfolio! Damn, I don’t even have my phone! _ But it was too late. Her hand was on the next doorknob, she was about to step outside, and she knew there were others behind her. She stopped in her tracks and bodies pushed past her and out the door. Only one person stopped.

“Hey, what’s the hold up? I told you to get outside, c’mon.”

“No, no,” Max shook her head and resisted against Ms. Falk’s grip on her wrist. “I have to go back, I forgot some things.”

“Max, it...it’ll be fine. Okay?” Her landlady continued to tug her toward the door. “The fire isn’t...it’s not too close to your apartment. It’ll be okay, don’t worry. Let’s go. We need to get outside.”

But outside was freezing. Maybe Max should have been more grateful this wasn’t happening in the dead of winter, but it was still a very chilly fall night. In the end, the temperature combined with her thin pajama shorts just added to her restlessness. She weaved in and out of the crowd standing outside the building, arms crossed securely over her chest, fists shaking against her ribcage, letting agitation take over her veins, keeping her feet moving.

It had been a few minutes now. Her landlady had just confirmed everyone was out of the building. There had been a weak cheer among the crowd. There wasn’t fire leaping out of windows, there wasn’t even smoke. The fire department seemed to be taking its time.

But she didn’t want to think about it, about any of it. She couldn’t. Instead she people-watched as she walked, archiving perfect shot opportunities for later, analyzing different angles, taking note of certain color schemes. She needed to keep occupied.

Then she saw a girl shivering in a towel a few feet away, her short hair ruffled as if it had been dried hastily.  _ Isn’t it, like...three in the morning? _ Max approached her from the side, slow and steady and unassuming. She quickly realized, though, that the girl was shaking more out of anger than the cold.  _ You’re too close to her now, she’s noticed you, shit, no going back. _

“Hey, um, are you cold?” A dark, icy gaze met hers. Max felt herself take a small step back. “Sorry, that’s a stupid question, I just...I was wondering, if you wanted, you could take my sweater. Uh, here.” Max pulled off the oversized hoodie she slept in and offered it up, realizing too late she had worn a kinda skimpy tank top underneath.

The girl only took a moment to look down at the sweater before continuing to glare at Max. “Sorry, are you on fire?” Her voice was anything but apologetic.

“I-I don’t think that’s funny right now—”

“Because you need to stop, drop, and roll the fuck away from me.”

Max pulled the sweater back with timid fingers, hugging it to her chest. “That’s, uh...”  _ Nice going Max, you truly are a master of communication. Just fucking end it now and hope you never have to endure this torture again.  _ “Um. I-I’m sorry to bother you, I just saw you in your towel, uh, not that I was staring, I just thought you—”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t an invitation for you to come over and help, alright? Not even remotely.” The girl looked away from Max to glare at someone else among the scattered crowd. Then she added as an afterthought, “We’re gonna go inside soon anyway.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

The girl turned back to her, giving her a look as if pitying her. It was a weird expression combined with a tight-lipped frown and crossed arms. “The fire, it’s not real. Ms. Falk does these drills every other month or so. Guess this is your first, huh?” Max nodded with a ragged exhale, combing through her hair with raked fingers.  _ Fuck, Ms. Falk scared the shit out of me...and it wasn’t even...fuck. _ “Yeah, so, thanks and all for the offer, but I won’t need it.”

“You’re welcome.” Max muttered as she sank to the ground, cross-legged with her head in her hands, pulling her hoodie back on to fight against the shivers that suddenly shook her chest. _ Is there such a thing as a panic attack triggered by relief? _

“Hey,” The girl said questioningly, her voice drifting down as she lowered herself and crouched at Max’s level, somehow easily keeping her balance despite maneuvering in just a towel. “I said the fire  _ wasn’t _ real. Did you catch that part, skimpy-tank-top-freckles girl?”

Scoffing under her breath, she glanced up. “It’s Max. And yeah, I heard that part. It’s just, I’ve spent the past ten minutes going out of my mind about leaving my camera and portfolio up in my apartment, the most valuable things I own, and then you say I’ve been worrying for nothing. They’re perfectly safe and were never in any kind of danger. I’m just trying to catch my breath here.”

The girl nodded curtly and said nothing, looking away as if giving Max space, but not bothering to move away either. After a while, it seemed her curiosity got the better of her. “You’re a photographer?” Max didn’t pause as she rubbed furiously at her eyes, just nodded. “I am too. What kind of work do you do? What equipment do you use?”

Max smiled softly at the turn in the girl’s voice. It was musical now, higher and clearer and Max had a strange vision of wrapping herself in it. “I do a lot of, uh, self-portraits with basically just analog gear, like instant film cameras and whatnot. I’ve got a Polaroid 1200si, actually, that’s kinda my baby. Um, but what about you?”

“Well I’m not as retro, I’ll say that much.” her tone wasn’t biting, instead there was a smirk peeking its head at the corner of her mouth and Max felt her grip around her middle loosen. “I use a Green— a digital camera mostly, for a bit of everything. I’m still trying to figure out my style, but I know I do want to get into the fashion side of photography eventually.”

“Very cool. Maybe we could send some samples over to each other, for a little criticism? I know they'd be very different styles, but...”

The girl stared at her before answering, tilting her head just slightly to the side, her smirk growing little by little into a smile. “Yeah. Sure. I’m Victoria, by the way.” She offered out her hand, Max shook it.

“Max, nice to meet you.”

“You already told me your name, dork.” Victoria chuckled softly. “But likewise. Oh, I think Ms. Falk is making her rounds, telling people it was nothing.” There was several angry outbursts behind them. Victoria stood up and Max scrambled to follow, feeling tension leave her limbs as if being washed off.

“Wait, could I...I mean, can I ask? Why you’re in a towel in the middle of the night? I mean, I guess it’s technically morning now. But were you seriously showering?”

Victoria raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a suddenly arched expression. “Do you really want to know? Even if I had to kill you after I told you? Are you sure you can handle the truth?”

“Uh, I guess?” Max leaned back slightly. “Because you’re, um, you're joking, right? ‘Cause if you’re not, forget I said anything. I'd love to keep some plausible deniability.”

“In that case, I won't say anything.” Victoria started after the crowd of neighbors angrily walking back into the building and Max followed hastily.

“Wait, are you a vampire or something?”

“Vampire?” she laughed. “That's seriously what you're going with?”

“Well I don't have much to go on, do I? It was the first thing that popped into my head... Thanks.” Victoria had held the door open for her, pointedly letting it close in the face of the guy behind them. Max tried not to laugh. “Can you at least give me a hint? Like a general starting point?”

Victoria walked up the stairs beside her, tucking in her towel as she moved. Max was obviously  _ not _ looking, though. “I thought you didn't want to know.”

“Right, but now I'm curious. I mean, who showers in the middle of the night? No offense but it's pretty weird. Like did you just randomly wake up and figured it was time to shower? Are you one of those people who just like to shower in the dark? Wait, maybe because you're nocturnal! See, vampire. There's the reasoning. Now that I think about it, you never said you  _ weren't _ a vampire.” Victoria let Max babble, climbing the stairs at a much slower pace than she would otherwise, waiting until the neighbors around them had all crept back into their own apartments, until the two walked the halls alone and Max’s voice rebounded comfortably against the walls.

“I'm not a vampire.”

“Okay fine, but seriously? One hint?” Max was looking at her with a convincingly pleading expression before glancing past her and then at the door numbers. “Oh man, are we on level five? I totally missed my floor. This mystery is just so intriguing, I completely lost track. You should probably just tell me now before I lose my mind. Wouldn't want that on your conscious, would you?”

“Cute.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “But it's really late, I want to dry up and put some clothes on, and you should go to sleep. Maybe tuck your Polaroid in bed with you or something after your inevitable, teary reunion.”

“Fine, but will you tell me tomorrow? Or give me a hint?”

“We've never met until today, and you think we'll just run into each other now?”

Max gave her a victorious expression, planting her hands at her hips. “Aha! So you're admitting you  _ are _ nocturnal. I knew it.”

She stared at Max for a while, sizing her up and waiting for her expression to change under the scrutiny. But the girl was unmovable and Victoria was the one to give in. “Let's go out for coffee tomorrow. Will that make you happy? We can meet up at the Victrola on Pike after lunch, 1:30. See? I'm not nocturnal.”

“Will you be wearing a big hat and shades and be all bundled up from head to toe to protect yourself from the sun? Because that wouldn't actually help your argument.”

“I'm not a vampire. Goodnight, Max.”

“Fine, fine, goodnight. See you tomorrow, Countess Dracula.”

She was already walking down the hall, Victoria had her hand on her doorknob, but like hell was she  _ not _ going to call after Max. “Shut up, I'm not a vampire!”


End file.
